China, Kenya Sign Agreements on Financing of Aid Projects

The Chinese and Kenyan governments have signed three agreements on the financing of China-aided projects in the East African nation.

The three deals on a total funding of 152.4 million U.S. dollars were signed in Nairobi on Wednesday by Kenya's National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich and Chinese Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng.

The financing of the projects was agreed during a meeting between Chinese Presidents Xi Jinping and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta during the recent Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa.

A statement from President Kenyatta's office said the agreements were on the financing of China-aided projects, including implementation of the National Optic Fibre Backbone Infrastructure Extension Project (NOFBI) Phase Two, and a Certificate of Acceptance for 1 million dollars grant to support Kenya in hosting the ongoing ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

During the signing ceremony, Kenyatta expressed the need for a Kenya-China joint ministerial mechanism to monitor projects implemented through their cooperation that are in line with the 60 billion dollars 10-point development plan for Africa announced by China at the FOCAC.

"This will help ensure better implementation of the projects and give meaning to the Kenya-China partnership," Kenyatta said.

Kenyatta said Kenya was keen on using the grants and interest-free loans provided by China in the modernization of health equipment and hospitals across the country as well as construction of stadia for the benefit of the young people.

On his part, Gao said in addition to supporting Kenya in energy, infrastructure, agriculture, education and health, China was also keen on promoting Kenya's efforts in wildlife protection.